p.4 #1 · Tamron 16-30mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2 lens for Nikon Z
Jman13 wrote:
It’s not quite as solid as a Nikon S lens but I think it’s more than adequate.
I have to think Scott has a bad copy - I had never had such a disparate experience from someone else as in this thread. I’m out shooting with my 16-30 today and tomorrow doing fall waterfall photography and so far it’s performing quite admirably. Real world images look better than my 14-30/4, and pretty much every shot I took today with it was sharp corner to corner with wonderful color and contrast.
Please let me know in case you decide to sell your copy
p.4 #2 · Tamron 16-30mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2 lens for Nikon Z
not liking the build material and zoom ring feel doesn’t mean I have a bad copy. I have a pretty cohesive kit of first party glass and this lens just sticks out from the pack in hand for me.
My need for the 16-23.99mm range is few and far between, so it inevitably gets compared to my 24-120 when the scene falls within the last 6mm.
p.4 #3 · Tamron 16-30mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2 lens for Nikon Z
I was more talking about your thoughts on the image quality. I will say it isn't as good as the 14-24/2.8S, but at less than half the price, that would be pretty incredible if it was. But still, I'm very happy with mine.
But yes, the zoom ring is too loose for my taste - I wish it was better damped. I find the build perfectly fine, but it isn't an S series Nikon lens with regards to build.
I haven't processed all my images from the past two days yet, but here are a few from my 16-30 on the Z6 III:
p.4 #8 · Tamron 16-30mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2 lens for Nikon Z
I've noticed a weird issue with this lens. Seems like it has pretty strong field curvature at 30mm - wide open corners are noticeably soft (as many here noticed). But if you set the custom button to Astro FC-Lock, then everything is magically sharp edge to edge. Even on 2.8. But with the "usual" focus mode you get mixed results - sometimes both sides are less sharp, sometimes it's only one side that's less sharp (I know, it sounds crazy). My copy was pretty even at 16-23mm range and had a slight decentering at 24-30mm with the left side only slightly weaker. It's those focus/sharpness inconsistencies that disappointed me the most.
not liking the build material and zoom ring feel doesn’t mean I have a bad copy. I have a pretty cohesive kit of first party glass and this lens just sticks out from the pack in hand for me. 
